• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.366-377
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• 2019

Paddy wetlands are a critical habitat for a variety of wild animals, and their rapid development and environmental changes pose a threat to the conservation of agrobiodiversity. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the habitat characteristics of anuran inhabiting paddy wetlands and identify major environmental variables affecting their distributions. The study was conducted in the Daeho reclaimed area in Dangjin, from March to October 2018. In this study, we found three anuran species (Pelophylax nigromaculatus, Hyla japonica and Pelophylax chosenicus). The environmental factors affecting the three species were identified as air temperature, humidity, water-depth, and micro-habitats. H. japonica were affected by water temperature, and P. chosenicus were affected by rice height and types of farming practices. All the three species richness was correlated with air temperature, humidity, and water-depth positively, and the three species used rice transplanted paddy fields the most. It was also found that paddy is the most preferred of the micro-habitats during the breeding season, so the survey area is considered to be used as the major breeding sites for the three species. P. chosenicus were more observed on environmental-friendly paddy fields than conventional paddy fields, which appears to be differences in their surroundings environment caused by predators and weeding. It will be needed to identify their relationship with predators, their preferred food resources and the richness and diversity of wild vegetation around paddy wetlands.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.286-292
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• 2010

Native oak tree species dominate the deciduous forests of South Korea. Although the acorns of these oak trees represent the main food source for many wildlife species, information pertaining to their nutrient composition and associated seasonal changes is limited. Thus, the objective of this study was to describe the seasonal changes in the acorn nutrient composition of six oak species in terms of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sodium (Na) concentrations, Quercus acutissima, Q. aliena, Q. mongolica, Q. variabilis, Q. dentata, and Q. serrata. The results indicated that N concentrations of Q. aliena acorns were constant, whereas those of Q. dentata changed over the seasons. Those of Q. acutissima acorns were higher in summer and autumn but Q. mongolica acorns were higher in spring and summer. Q. serrata acorns were highest in autumn but Q. variabilis acorns were found to be the lowest in N concentration. P concentrations of acorns of six species tended to decline in the summer but increased in the spring and autumn. Ca and Mg concentrations showed an obvious trend of decline over the seasons for all species except Q. mongolica. Na concentrations of Q. aliena, Q. dentata, and Q. serrata acorns were constant over the seasons whereas those of Q. dentata tended to increase. Q. variabilis acorns were highest in autumn but Q. acutissima acorns were lowest in Na concentration. Overall, these results showed that acorn nutrient composition varies by season, and that the nature of the variability is largely species dependent.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.50-64
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• 2009

The freshwater lakes located at the fringe of urban cities are a habitat for diverse organisms. However, they are facing severe danger of environment deterioration and water pollution caused by reckless development of the area. In this study, an ecological management plan was suggested to promote the biodiversity through appointing management area based on the research and analysis data of flora and fauna as well as maintain biodiversity and harmonize utilization of freshwater lakes such as Duryang Reservoir at Sacheon, Gyeongsangnam-do. Base on the data of ecological research and analysis, this study conducted research on biotope assessment, wild life habitat assessment and presence of protected species. As a result, the ecosystem conservation area including multi-layer structured natural forests, waterside and wetland that are home to various species and the edge area with high habitat diversity were recognized as highly preservable regions. Management areas were ecologically disturbed region, highly polluted commercial district and damaged waterside caused by fishing. Proactive management must be implemented through vegetation management such as vegetation transition and shrub planting as well as establishing pollutant management system. The deterioration of waterside and forest vegetation of freshwater lake has a direct influence on biodiversity and water quality. Therefore, the conservation area and development area should be totally separated from each other, and the development area must be restored and managed strictly.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.219-223
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• 2015

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) causes paratuberculosis or Johne's disease, an intestinal granulomatous infection in domestic and wild animals. The study aimed to develop and evaluate a panel of multiplex quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (mqPCR) assay for simultaneous detection of three MAP-specific genes (IS900, F57 and ISMAP02 genes). The analytic sensitivity (i.e., limit of detection, expressed as cells per 1 ml) was 150 for IS900, 1500 for F57, and 50 for ISMAP02. The specificity of the method was determined by testing 152 bovine fecal samples. Based on the test, it showed that the assay simultaneously detected the target genes in short period of time and at lower cost compared to laboratory routine tests. The test agreement between the assay and routine test was 94%. The discrepancy in the results was due to samples that were tested positive by the panel but negative by the routine tests, suggesting that the assay has higher sensitivity than the routine tests. In conclusion, the mqPCR assay could be a rapid and accurate testing tool for investigating paratuberculosis or Johne's disease cases in domestic and wild animals.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.140-146
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• 2018

Wild boars have expanded their habitats in Korea in recent years and caused serious social problems such as crop damage and appearance in urban areas. This study was carried out from May to October 2012 to investigate the environmental factors that affect crop damage based on actual cases reported in Geochang County of Gyeongnam Province, Korea. The analysis showed that the damages by wild boars occurred mainly between August and September, and rice was damaged most often while sweet potatoes were damaged most intensely. The results indicated that the damages were related to the wild boars' preference of crop and the seasonal availability of crops. Other factors that affected the crop damage included the slope, the topographic relief, and the distances from forest, stream, road, and residential area. There was no significant difference of environmental factor according to damage intensity, suggesting that the wild boars tended to attack the same cropland repeatedly and thus accumulating the damage. Our study suggests that reducing crop damages by wild boars will require cultivating crops less preferred by wild boars, installing electric fences, and controlling wild boar population with hunting and trapping.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.150-161
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• 2005

Soraksan National Park and Odaesan National Park, that are 20.7 km apart, should play an important role as habitats and corridors for wildlife because they are located in the center of Baekdudaegan. However, landscape features such as small area, fragmentation, and geographic isolation seem to impede the proper ecological functions of these two national parks. Using GIS technique, we examined the pattern of fragmentation in these two national parks and adjacent regions (Sokcho-si, Goseong-gun, Inje-gun, Yangyang-gun, and Hongcheon-gun) encompassing a total of $4573.5km^2$ in area. We then selected the patches suitable for an endangered carnivorous species, leopard cat, based on habitat conditions, and identified the network and stepping stone among patches to enable leopard cats to migrate. Diverse roads and artificial facilities in the study area generated a total of 24,701 patches: 39 patches among these were selected as potential habitats upon considering the habitat condition such as vegetation types and minimum area for leopard cat. Three patches nearby Gyebangsan and Bangtaesan were identified as a potential network center to relieve the effects of fragmentation and isolation of the two national parks. Our results also showed that patches containing Jombongsan and Bangtaesan would act as a source patch from there leopard cats can disperse to both national parks. It is an urgent task to identify the pattern of fragmentation and the connectivity between patches in national parks and adjacent areas for wildlife conservation because almost all national parks confront land- scape problems similar to the two national parks examined in this study.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.525-535
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• 2019

In this study, 49 major WCS(Wildlife Crossing Structure), including Baekdu-daegan, were evaluated for the effectiveness of WCS on using the daily average frequency index and diversity Index comparing the number of species that appear with the surrounding habitats. According to the analysis, the average use frequency of the entire WCS was 1.4 times, and the average number of WCS exceeded the average was 17 and 34.7 percent of the total. There were 18 WCS with the same number of habitats and species that appeared in the same area, or 36.7 percent of the total. The daily average use frequency and variety were all analyzed at 10 efficient WCS, accounting for 20.4 percent of the total. According to the results of an site survey on the compliance rate of 4 efficient WCS, the compliance rate of the Deoksanjae overpass was the best in location selection, specifications, vegetation cover and soil, fence. The results of this research will be used as basic data for the study of WCS effectiveness, including the improvement of functions of new and installed WCS.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.387-397
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• 2021

This study aims to present reference data necessary for developing evaluation indicators to analyze the actual resilience of purchased land by investigating the factors that affect the restoration of the purchased land in the riparian zone and quantitatively calculating its importance. The main results are as follows. Firstly, this study identified 34 potential resilience factors through a literature review encompassing domestic and overseas studies and derived seven ecological responsiveness factors, six physical responsiveness factors, and four managerial responsiveness factors through the Delphi survey. Secondly, reliability analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis derived the following important factors: structural stability of the vegetation restored in the purchased land, species diversity of wildlife, structural stability of wildlife, the size of restored wetland after purchase, number of plant species, and the land cover status adjacent to the purchased land. The study results are expected to be helpful information for ecological restoration and management plans reflecting reinforcing factors for resilience at each stage of land purchase, restoration, and management.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.202-216
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• 2022

Animals exhibit certain behaviors and movement patterns as they react to their internal needs, external stimuli, and surrounding environments. They have a bounded range in which they mostly spend their time, and it is referred to as a home range. Based on the fact that the home range is a critical area for the survival and preservation of species, there has been a growing body of research on developing more precise home range estimation methods to use the estimated ranges as a ground for establishing an effective conservation policy since the early 1940s. Recent rapid advancements in telemetry technology that resulted in the presence of autocorrelation between locations with short time intervals revealed the limitations of the existing estimators. Many novel estimators have been developed to compensate for it by incorporating autocorrelation in calculating home ranges. However, studies on the animal home range are still in their early stage in Korea, and newly developed methodologies have not yet been adopted. Therefore, this study aims to introduce the foreign home range estimation methods and foster domestic research activities on home ranges. Firstly, we compared and contemplated seven estimators by categorizing them into geometrical and statistical methodologies and then divided them into estimators that assume independent observations and those that consider autocorrelation in each category. After that, the home ranges of black-tailed gulls (Larus crassirostris) were calculated using GPS tracking data for the month of June and derived home range estimators by applying the methodology introduced in this study. We analyzed and compared the results to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each method. Lastly, we proposed a guideline that can help researchers choose an appropriate estimator for home range calculation based on the animal location data characteristics and analysis purpose.

• Journal of the korean veterinary medical association
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.272-276
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• 2011

최근의 연구에 의하면 자연계 또는 인류가 합성한 수많은 화합물질들이 내분비계를 교란하여 야생 도물, 조류, 어류 및 인체에 부작용을 일으킨다고 보고되고 있다. 이들 내분비계를 교란시키는 물질들을 과학자들은 "내분비계 장애물질 (endocrine disruptors, 언론에서는 환경호르몬으로 소개됨)"이라고 부른다. 이들 내분비계 장애물질은 일상 생활에서 우리 주변에서 흔히 볼 수 있는 것으로서 플라스틱, 캔, 세제, 내연제, 음식, 완구, 화장품, 살충제, 약품 등에 광범위하게 분포되어 있다. 우리는 음식물, 음료수, 약품, 화장품 등에 포함된 내분비계장애물질을 구강 또는 피부로 이들 물질을 섭취하고 있다. 아직까지 이들 화합물질에 대한 정확한 부작용이 규명되지 않고 있는 문제점이 있음에도 불구하고 동물과 사람은 다양한 이들 화합물에 노출되고 있다.